Dyed Strands
by AppleJTZ
Summary: Still searching for things they have in common, Luna takes Sam on a surprise date to the Burnt Bean. Unknown to her, this forces Sam to face some feelings she had buried a long time ago…


"Come on, Lunes, this is silly!"

Despite complaining, Sam laughed as Luna led her through the streets. Her eyes tied with a blindfold, she could only hold on to the hand of her girlfriend as her guide.

"Just a bit more" she could hear Luna's voice say. Though she couldn't see anything, Sam knew Luna was grinning from ear to ear. "I told ya, it's a surprise!"

Luna was running so fast, Sam had trouble keeping hold of her hand. "And I love surprises" she laughed while she tried to keep up. After a pause, she murmured: "It's just…"

Suddenly she collided with Luna's back as the brunette stopped. "You're… worried it will turn out it's another thing we don't have in common?" Luna asked.

Sam bit her lip, but nodded.

"I-it's fine, it's fine" Luna assured her. She began moving again, more slowly than before. "I just know you'll love that place – when I heard about it, I immediately thought of you."

"Okay, now you're really getting me excited!" Sam then nearly stumbled over an empty can in her way. "It'd be even more excited though if you could let me see what it is…"

"As you wish!" Luna came to a halt, making Sam stop as well. "Here we are! You can open your eyes."

After fumbling around the knot, Sam took off the blindfold. The afternoon sun blinded her, so she could only see the silhouette of a building. As her eyes adjusted and she could read the sign above the door, her eyes widened. "The… Burnt Bean?"

"Ta-da!" Her chest swollen with pride, Luna stretched out her arms. "This is the number one in-style coffee house in the entire region, famous for its poetry sessions. My lil' sister Lucy told me about it, and I immediately thought it would be the perfect place for our next date."

For a moment, Sam stared at the building with a blank expression. Slowly, her lips curled into a smile, a very forced one showing her teeth. "Y-yeah. Awesome."

Luna slouched her shoulders. "You don't like it, do you?"

"No, no, I love it!" Sam quickly said, trying to sound natural. "That's a really great place for a date! But, um…"

"Great!" All excited again, Luna grabbed her arm. "Then let's go!" Before Sam could say anything, she was once again pulled by Luna as she dragged her through the door.

Inside, the whole place screamed trendy art café. A heavy scent of roasted coffee beans was lingering in the air. Young men and women with sunglasses, scarfs and beanies sat around with steaming cups and mugs. While chatter filled the room, it wasn't overly loud or crowded, with plenty of free seats.

Sam's eyes scanned the room as if she was looking for something, when Luna tugged her jacket. "Hey, there are two free stools at the bar!"

Sam turned to the bar. Behind it, a blonde woman was working on a coffee machine, standing with her back towards them. As Sam saw the turquoise strand going through her bright blonde hair her whole body stiffened. "No! ...I-I mean let's rather sit at a table, so we can see each other" she suggested.

"Sure." Luna was about to go to a table near the bar when Sam grabbed her arm.

"Let's, er, sit there!" Sam said, pointing at a table on the opposite side.

Though confused Luna shrugged. "Whatever."

The table was standing so close to the wall, only three chairs fit around it. To Luna's surprise Sam didn't take the chair across her as they sat down, but the one with the back to the bar.

"Um, didn't you want to sit here so we could see each other?" Luna asked, having to bend her neck to look at Sam.

"Yes." Sam coughed. "So, um, could you slide a little to the side?"

The way Sam smiled, with large wrinkles around her mouth and squinted eyes irritated Luna. Still, she moved her chair until she sat across her girlfriend. The edge of the table pressed against her belly, and her head touched the wall when she sat upright. She put her arms on the table and leaned over them. "Everything alright, Sam?" she asked as she got into a somewhat comfortable position.

"Of course!" Sam said, smiling even wider. "Why shouldn't it be?"

"Well It's just you're… oh never mind. More importantly, how do you like the place?" Luna asked, looking expectantly at Sam.

Beneath the table, Sam rubbed her feet together. "It's cool. Very, um, trendy and stuff. But let's order something, 'kay? I'm thirsty." Sam spoke fast and was even faster to grab one of the menus, holding it so high it covered her face. Luna gave her a puzzled look, before picking up a menu herself.

Meanwhile, one of the guests stepped onto the stage. The middle-aged adjusted the mic, then spoke into it: "Once, your love brought me sunshine, but it melted like a snowflake. The forecast is cloudy - with a chance of heartbreak."

In a steady rhythm, the audience snapped their fingers. While the man made a bow, the barista stepped onto the stage. "Alright, let's hear it for Patchy Drizzle and his poem 'Forecast of love'!" she called through the room.

Hearing her voice Sam flinched slightly. Luna didn't notice as she snapped her fingers alongside the other guests. "Short, but sweet."

"Y-yeah, totally" Sam said without looking up from her menu.

"Hey, you think they let us play some jams?" Luna asked. "Music's also a form of poetry."

Sam gulped. "Sounds great, but, um, we don't have our guitars."

"Oh right. We could still sing acapella though."

"I've got trouble holding the beat without an instrument line."

"Maybe they got a sound machine and we can sing karaoke?"

"I, I don't think karaoke fits a place like this…"

Cocking her head Luna furrowed her brows. A blush on her face, Sam avoided her glare. But before any of them could say something a figure approached their table. "Sorry for the wait, ladies." Sam almost jumped as the barista stood behind her, pen and notebook ready. "So, what can I get'cha?" she asked.

"A latte for me" Luna said.

"Good choice! And what about you?"

Sam was keeping her head low and her menu up high. "J-just a black coffee" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

The barista wrote it down. "Alright, one latte and one black coffee coming right-" She stopped as she looked at Sam. Though the teenager basically buried her face in her menu, the turquoise strand of her hair still looked out. "Hey, nice style you got there, kid!" the barista said, grinning as she ran her hand across her own hair. "Guess we're hair twins."

For a moment, Sam seemed to be frozen. She then nodded at the barista, while avoiding eye-contact.

"It's really the same colour" the barista remarked, leaning a little closer to Sam. "Bet we even use the same brand of hair dye. Follicle Fatale?"

"Y-yeah" Sam murmured.

"Cool! It's really hard pulling off this colour, especially with hair so bright – once I'm back with your coffees, maybe we can exchange some hair styling tips."

A slight shudder went through Sam. Once the barista was gone, she put her menu down, and sighed silently. With one hand she tapped on the table, while her other one clenched her knee.

Seeing the look on her face Luna crossed her arms. "Okay, dude, what's wrong? You're acting totally weird."

"No, I'm not!" Sam insisted, forcing a smile on her face. "Everything's fine, really!"

"Hey, we might not have much in common, but I can tell when you're lying." Suddenly, Luna lowered her head. "You don't like it here, do you? This place is another bust..."

"No!" Her chair almost tilted as Sam jumped up and slammed her hands against the table. "I-I love this place, really! I love slowly sipping on coffee, I love beat poetry, I love the style of this place but most of all, I love being here with _you_!"

She breathed heavily, some of the guests turning their heads towards her. Seeing her so worked up startled Luna a little, but she was also flattered. As she blushed Sam also got red in the face, and the two teens quietly stared at each other for a moment. Eventually, Sam sat down again. "S-sorry… but I swear, I like it here."

"Really?" Luna asked, sounding not convinced. "And you're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

"By my love for Mick Swagger, I'm telling the truth." Sam looked around, before leaning a closer to Luna. "Truth is, I've... I've actually been here before" she said in a quiet voice.

Surprised Luna pulled back her head, hitting the wall behind her. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah. In fact, there was a time I hung out here every day."

Luna scratched her head. "Wow. I mean, I was hoping you'd like it, but I didn't think you were THAT much into beat poetry."

Sam slid a little deeper down her chair. "It… wasn't exactly because of the stage performances I came."

"No? Then they're making some sick coffee?"

Sam sunk even deeper. "The coffee's good, but it also wasn't the reason…"

"Well what was? The atmosphere?"

Any deeper and Sam would've fallen off her chair. "S-sort of…"

Luna looked at her flustered girlfriend. As the turquoise strand of her hair fell between her eyes, a thought struck Luna, and she turned her gaze to the barista. She was working at the coffee machine, probably preparing their order. Luna stared at the turquoise line going through her hair, then back at Sam. Suddenly, she grinned. "You were hot for the barista!"

Just as she had said that Sam threw herself over the table and pressed her hands against her mouth. "Sh!" she hushed, casting a nervous glance at the barista. She didn't seem to have heard anything, so Sam sighed in relief as she took her hands off Luna's mouth.

"Sorry" Luna said, keeping her voice low. She leaned towards Sam. "But you were into her, right?"

Bashfully, Sam nodded. "Somewhat. When I was younger, I heard about how cool and popular this place was with college students. I guess I wanted to prove I was just as cool, so one afternoon, I dropped by. When I opened the door, I was completely overwhelmed by this place: The atmosphere, the people, the strong smell of coffee – at first, I wanted to leave, feeling like it was too much for me. But I gathered my courage and took a seat. Then, she showed up."

The skin around Sam's nose became pink. "I… I just couldn't get her out of my head, you know? Even after I left, all I could think about was her hair, her body, her voice – it was like she was haunting me! Soon, the smell of coffee was enough to make my heart race. When I couldn't take it anymore, I came back, again and again, until I spent almost every day at this place. I'd order something just so I could talk to her for two seconds, and then spent the rest of the afternoon gawking at her. It burned up all the money I was saving for a new guitar, but I just had to see her once a day."

Her eyes focused on the table, Sam rubbed her arm. "At first, I didn't really know what all that was about – I was only starting to discover that part of myself. I talked myself into thinking I just found her to cool. It took a long time until I realized I wasn't just admiring her, but there was more going on." She chuckled. "Really dumb, isn't it? I don't even know her name, but I was so obsessed about her, I started mimicking her style." She twirled her dyed strand around her finger. "Man, I feel so embarrassed talking about this. I mean, I was even younger back then, and she is like, over twenty years old. Heck, she could even be in her thirties! You must think I'm a total weirdo."

But when she looked at Luna, the brunette was staring at her with a dead-serious face. "No, dude. I totally get it – in fact, I once went through something similar."

Sam sat up. "Really?"

"Yeah. Back in elementary school, there was this hot teacher lady all the boys drooled over. I was very young and much more timid back then, but I already felt there was… something. In her class, my heart beat faster, I got goose-bumps all over and whenever she talked to me, all I could do was blush. At night, I sometimes woke up after having a weird dream about her, and then I couldn't fall asleep again for hours. It was all so confusing." As she talked Luna wrapped her arms around herself. "I-I only realized much later what was going on with me at that time" she murmured, clenching her sides.

Listening to Luna, Sam relaxed. "Guess we found one thing we have in common" she said with a smirk.

Also relaxing, Luna grinned back. "Yeah, some damn good taste – that barista is a babe!"

Sam turned her head. Their coffees on a tablet, the barista was on her way to them, but had stopped to talk with a guest. Seeing her face and hearing her laugh, Sam smiled. "She really is…"

She stared at her for a bit longer, before turning back to Luna. To her surprise, her girlfriend was looking at her with a somewhat sour expression. "What's with that look?" Sam asked. Then, she giggled. "Aw, don't tell me you're jealous because of an older woman?" She reached out her hand and touched Luna's. "Don't worry, Lunes. I was just nervous to meet her again because she was kinda my first crush. But I'm completely over that."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked, intensely staring at her. It took a moment before Sam realized she wasn't looking into her eyes, but at the turquoise strand of her hair.

"I-I only kept that because I dig the style, I swear!"

**A/N: And there you have it, probably one of the dumbest and most far-fetched headcanons I ever came up with.**

**When that barista appeared in "Write Stuff", some people speculated she might be Sam's mom because of the hair. I didn't really think it was plausible though for her to be her mother just because they use the same hair dye. So, I came up with this incredibly dumb alternative explanation why they shared that attibute (also, I had some Saluna hype I needed to get out of my system).**

**I hope you enjoyed this stupid little story ;)**


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